


Seven Notes In Black

by AsagiStilinski



Series: Purge And Purify [2]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Aftermath of Violence, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - The Purge Fusion, Angst, Beaches, Blackmail, Bottom Kaiba Seto, Collars, Comfort, Consequences, Dom Yami Yuugi | Atem, Dom/sub, Dubious Morality, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Flashbacks, Guilt, Halloween, Halloween Costumes, Hurt/Comfort, Kaiba Seto Has Issues, Kaiba Seto Needs a Hug, M/M, Mild Sexual Content, Minor Injuries, Minor Violence, Misunderstandings, Moral Dilemmas, Politics, Power Dynamics, Power Exchange, Power Play, Sub Kaiba Seto, police officer Atem, police officer Joey Wheeler, police officer Yugi Muto, top Atem
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-06
Updated: 2019-05-06
Packaged: 2020-02-27 11:47:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18738388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsagiStilinski/pseuds/AsagiStilinski
Summary: Sequel to "Twisted Nerve"After the events of Purge Night, Seto is eager to move on and forget, but with so many lives caught up in the incident the night before, it's foolish to believe he'll get out of it that easilyNow he has to deal with the unseen villain of Purge Night, Maximilian Pegasus, who's bound and determined to ruin Seto's reputation, and his public stance on the Purge, forever





	1. I've Got A Lover I Love Like Religion, I'm Such A Fool For Sacrifice

**Author's Note:**

> The beginning of the second part of "Purge And Purify", I hope you like it! This is also my peice for this week's "Art Monday" prompt
> 
> Title-"Seven Notes In Black" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UXvxQfVazo  
> Chapter Title- "Coming Down" by Halsey https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRXO77hJGKA

"Well? Did we get what we needed?"

"Yes Sir, we have multiple clips of video footage from last night featuring exactly what we were looking for,"

A low chuckle came from the man at the front of the table, a grin spreading across his face as he took a sip of his wine

"Excellent.... Seto Kaiba, prepare for your downfall,"

 

~+~

 

"A-Atem..... _Atem_ ... fuck!" Seto panted, his nails scratching down his lover's chest as he shook and stuttered

His mind was finally starting to clear, a sense of releif finally finding him again as he leaned down and smothered his fiance' in sloppy, messy kisses

The officer grinned into the affection, chuckling lowly and gently dragging his nails down his lover's back, leaving soft little red marks in their wake as he pushed up a little bit harder into his partner, leaning up on his elbows to give him a few more kisses down his neck, his teeth catching playfully on the D ring that hung from the center of his simple, dark blue leather collar

"So cute," Atem purred, his arms wrapping around his fiance's waist as he pressed his lips in soft little patterns along his chest as Seto slowly came down from his high, his chest heaving, his mind pleasantly foggy as he gently curled his fingers into the pillows behind Atem's head

"Fuck..." Seto repeated, still quietly panting, his body slowly losing tension more and more as he relaxed in his lover's lap

"I take it you're feeling better?" Atem teased, nipping his lover's shoulder and pulling a slight, breathy laugh from Seto's throat

"Uh-huh..... gods.... but... Atem, are.. are we sick? I mean... we fucking... _killed people_ .. less than a day ago and now we're having sex.... is that wrong? Are we fucked up?"

"Ofcourse we're fucked up, my love, remember how we met?" Atem teased, grinning from ear to ear as he leaned up and kissed Seto's nose

"But not for this, this is just... releasing stress, letting our minds process the trauma a little, letting go... you can't let yourself obsess over what happened last night or you'll never move on from it, I'm not saying we should ignore it, in fact, I think we should talk about it, maybe even talk to a thera-"

"Fuck no,"

Yeah, Atem saw that coming

"I don't know what you have against that idea, I _liked_ the therapist _I_ had,"

"Pharaoh, _please_ -"

"I know, I know, we won't talk about it," Atem sighed, pulling Seto down a little bit and giving him a sweet kiss to his lips

"I'm just saying.... you can't ignore it, but you can't obsess over it either, getting back to normal parts of life is healthy, releasing stress is healthy, and not breaking our sex streak over fucking Purge Night is DEFINITELY healthy," he grinned teasingly

That sparked a small smile from the CEO as well, his expression warm and soft as he leaned down and gave Atem another kiss, before reluctantly rolling off of him and pulling his fiance' closer, immediately starting to card his fingers through his lover's hair

"Mm... seriously though, Seto, are you ok? You must have gone through even more than I know if you ended up with Marik,"

"It's really nothing, Your Majesty, I found you without too much trouble,"

"Baby, you were _shot_ ,"

" _Grazed_ ,"

"By a _bullet_ ,"

"I've had worse,"

Atem frowned, his nose wrinkling, but he didn't get the chance to further inquire, the sound of nocking breaking him out of his otherwise happy daze

"Enter at your own risk!" he called back, pulling Seto closer by the collar and giving him another happy kiss

_"Ya' gotta open the door ya' birdbrain!!"_ Joey's voice called from outside, making Atem wince in embarrassment

"Ah right.... sorry! I'll be right there!!"

Atem hurriedly grabbed his robe from the floor and put it on, making sure to keep a hand clutching the center to keep it closed so that his freind didn't get an unwanted peep at his .. unmentionables.... and hurried to the door, opening it as quickly as he could and preparing to greet Joey- and Yugi, who had accompanied him- but paused suddenly when the two of them hurried inside, and-

"My dad's dead,"

Suddenly, the considerably light, jovial mood that had been forming in the hotel room was gone, and a heavy weight of tension had fallen over the four of them

"... What?" Atem asked quietly, visibly paling

"The N.O.K. just called to let me know... 'parently they found 'im with the apartment door open, shot three times,"

"Oh... Joey... I'm so sorry...." Atem said quietly, reaching out with a bit of hesitation to gently squeeze his shoulder, wrapping an arm around him and give him a soft, half-hug

"Thanks," Joey mumbled back quietly, only half-heartedly returning the hug

"Is there... anything we can do to help?"

The blonde shook his head, clearly looking depressed and listless, even Yugi wrapping his arms around his boyfreind didn't seem to help at all, and Atem couldn't remember _ever_ seeing Yugi hug Joey without the vice officer lighting up like a Christmas tree

"I don't get it, he SOLD YOU to get tortured to death just to pay off some fucking gambling debt, why are you upset? You should be HAPPY that he's dead,"

"Seto!" Atem hissed, clearly offended over his lover's behavior

"What? It's true,"

Joey's face grew darker, going from exhausted and sad to irritated in what seemed like a flash of a moment

"Look Kaiba, I know ya' got daddy issues too, fuck we could pro'ly compare scars an' see who's dad packed the bigger punch, but I still- .... I ain't ok with him bein' gone, I don't care how illogical it is, I just ain't! I know he was an abusive fuck, I can't really say I've loved 'im for a long time, an' I don't know if I've _ever_ liked 'im, but .. he was still my _dad_...."

Seto only huffed, shifting to sit up and keeping the sheets draped around his waist as he glared at the blonde

"I'm just saying you should look at the bright side, atleast he can never hurt you or Serenity anymore,"

"Fuck.... Serenity...." Joey muttered suddenly, sighing and putting his head in his hands

"How in the hell am I s'posed to tell Serenity?! I always protected 'er from the ol' man, she's got no clue ..... fuck..."

"Joey.... would you like me to accompany you? Perhaps I could lend some assistance," Atem suggested quietly

"Yeah.... yeah ok, thanks 'Tem..... I guess I'd better get this over with sooner rather than later huh?"

"Probably," Atem said softly, leaning up to kiss his freind's forehead

"I'll be back in a moment ok? Just let me get dressed,"

Joey nodded, watching listlessly as the other officer grabbed his currently unpacked duffle bag and disappeared into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him

This, ofcourse, left the three of them alone in the room in an awkward silence, until Yugi- bless him- decided to try speaking

"So... it stopped raining,"

"Seems so," Seto nodded

"Do you and Atem plan on going out to the beach?"

"Mm, I'm going to go on out and enjoy the sun wile he's ... with you two, he can join me when he's free,"

"Wow, didn't know ya' even _liked_ the sun, actually I kinda always thought of ya' as a vampire, to be honest," Joey mused, his eyes narrowed, a clear look of annoyance on his face

"Well now you can clearly see that that isn't the case,"

"Can I though?"

"Joey... sweetie, that's really enough," Yugi said gently

He didn't want to interfere, knowing that his boyfreind was suffering such a huge loss, but he also knew that he shouldn't let the blonde take out his frustration on Seto- even if the CEO _had_ only exacerbated the problem

"Look, I wasn't trying to offend you earlier, I was trying to _help_ ," Seto bit irritably

"Yeah, well, mission unsuccessfull,"

Seto clenched his jaw, he so _badly_ wanted snip back at the cop as brutally as he possibly could, but ...

He knew that he couldn't

And before he could even _try_ to respond, Atem stepped out from the bathroom, dressed and atleast mostly presentable, if only for his hair still being a bit askew

"Alright, I'm ready," he said quickly, his attention turning to Seto a moment later, stepping over and gently cupping his lover's cheek, a gentle, sweet expression on his face as he dragged his thumb along Seto's lower lip

"Are you ok with this sweetie? Do you need me to stay?"

"I'm fine Pharaoh, I promise," he swore, his expression loving and warm, nuzzling gently into his lover's touch

"Ok sweetheart.... if you're sure,"

Seto only nodded, giving him another smile as he watched Atem pull away, his eyes glued to the officer as Atem left the hotel room with Yugi and Joey, shutting the door behind them

Seto sighed quietly, crashing back down and closing his eyes

He needed to get dressed...

But he couldn't be bothered

 

_"Hello Mama,"_

_All these years later, he still wasn't used to it_

_Even after fifteen years, he would still never get used to seeing his mother's name on that headstone_

_Quietly, he straightened out the lilies that he had set down_

_A dozen bouquets_

_The more successfull he became, the more flowers he bought_

_Most people in Japan honored the dead during Obon, but ... that was mostly why he waited until Halloween every year_

_He hated the idea of people seeing him greive_

_In Japan, Halloween was mostly an occasion for parties and light-hearted fun, there was no sentimental attachment like there was in the west, so the only people who visited graves on Halloween were people who actually lost their loved ones **on** Halloween, wich wasn't all that common, thankfully_

_"I can't stay long, I'm announcing a new VR game I made at my party.... I think you would have liked it, you always liked creepy stuff like this,"_

_Despite the fact that he always insisted he didn't believe in gods or the afterlife- and, truthfully, he really wouldn't consider himself a religious person- he had **always** talked to his mother's grave_

_Not so much his fathers', not because he had a poor relationship with him- quite the opposite, Seto loved his father very much- but there was just ... less of a necessity, he supposed, as if there was any necessity in talking to someone who wasn't there to begin with_

_But he had always been a mama's boy, and what he missed about her the most was talking to her_

_He choked back his tears, he never felt comfortable crying, even when he was alone, but tonight he was just using the excuse of not wanting to ruin his make up_

_"I wish you could have played it, you would have... you really would have liked it,"_

_Seto loved horror of every sort, he inherited it from his mother_

_Watching scary movies was their favorite way to bond, and Halloween was their favorite time of year_

_He had kept those things about himself strong ever since she passed_

_"You'd hate... the state of the world though, there are.. fucking dictators all over the place now.. and that Purge shit.. it's just.. it's just getting worse, I thought maybe it'd get better, people would come to their senses, but it's only getting worse,"_

_He bit his tongue, but this time, he couldn't hold himself back, there were tears pouring down his cheeks, and no amount of biting his tongue or clenching his jaw or holding his breath seemed to stop them_

_His body trembled, his head lowered, it felt like his heart was being torn out of his chest_

_He would have to clean this up quickly, he might need to fix his make up before the party, and the last thing he wanted to do was walk around in the heart of the night looking ... **askew**...._

_Seto always took great pride in his Halloween costumes, making them as elaborate and well put together as possible_

_This year his entire body was painted ink black, black antlers sprouting from his head, mimicking The Wendigo from Hannibal_

_It wasn't easy to pull off, but he liked the effect, and if he kept crying, he would ruin it_

_Inhaling deeply, he tried to calm himself, when suddenly a very...... pungent.... scent struck his nose_

_Resisting the urge to sneeze, he glanced in the direction of the scent, his heart seeming to do flip-flops when he realized he wasn't alone_

_At first he was about to panic, worried that someone had seen him crying, or worse, heard him talking- he had often heard his voice was unmistakable, and he didn't want anyone to know he was here_

_But...._

_Was it really a **person** he was looking at?_

_A few graves down from his parents', there was someone else neeling there, lighting incense_

_A beautifull person, an ... **angel**....._

_The figure was wearing a long, elaborate black dress, with enormous, black feathery wings, and small, curved horns, and their beauty......_

_It was unreal_

_Surely, Seto realized, he was staring at a real, actual, angel...._

_An angel of **death** , neeling before what he assumed to be a recently departed soul's grave, lighting incense..._

_For a moment, the creature looked up, staring Seto's way_

_Those eyes.... those bright, soulfull red eyes.... that **couldn't** be human_

_The angel startled, and Seto realized belatedly how ironic this must have seemed_

_An angel and a demon, greiving together in the same graveyard on Halloween night_

_Somewhere in the world, gothic romance writers were fucking sobbing_

_Sniffing again, Seto hurriedly started out of the graveyard in the other direction, his heart racing with ... well, he wasn't actually sure if he was panicked or awed or terrified or amazed but... it was alot of emotion, and he needed to leave before the magic of the situation broke- and before his make up started to run_

_He thought he'd never see the angel again_

_Boy was he fucking wrong_

 

"Gods.... I'm never gonna get that out of my head..." Joey sighed

"That phone call about your dad?" Yugi guessed sympathetically

"No... walkin' in on 'Tem an' Seto fuckin' Kaiba in a damn _love nest_ together, I could still smell the sex ..... _gross_ ,"

"I said 'enter at your own risk', what do you think that meant?" Atem huffed in annoyance, face scrunched up as the three of them walked towards Serenity's hotel room

"I dunno, I was kinda hopin' ya'd killed somebody or somethin', anythin' but _that_ ,"

Atem tried not to wince over that, instead making himself concentrate more on the irritation than the... closeness ... of that guess

"You know, Seto really isn't the evil villain you think he is,"

"After what he did on Valentine's Day, I find that REAL hard to believe,"

"Gods it's been over TWO. YEARS. when are you going to quit bringing that up?"

"Maybe never, maybe I'm gonna keep bringin' it up 'till the day I die, then reincarnate an' bring it up again in the next life,"

"You believe in reincarnation?" Yugi asked with mild surprise

He and Joey had never talked about spirituality that much, Joey was superstitious but he wasn't really religious, so it hadn't come up much

"I dunno.... I mean if I did, wouldn't I also have to believe that some poor pregnant lady just gave birth to my dad? I dunno if I'm ready to believe that...."

"I don't think that's quite how reincarnation works Jo," Yugi chuckled softly

"Eh? Really??? That's how it worked in that John Carpenter movie,"

"Well I wouldn't quite call John Carpenter a master of religious studies, a master of horror yes, but not religious studies," Atem chuckled softly

"Yeah I guess......" Joey muttered, pausing to lean back against the wall

He was stalling, he knew that, he was procrastinating....

But could anyone really blame him?

This wasn't exactly a conversation he wanted to have...

"I guess I just.... now that my dad's dead... I kinda feel like I wanna be more religious than I am... I wanna believe in somethin', I just ain't sure what..."

"That's understandable, wanting to believe more now that you've lost someone close to you, I've always been religious but I grew more so after my parents died," Atem said with a slow nod

"Really?" Joey asked in slight surprise

"Sure, I was raised traditional-Kemetic, but after I lost my parents I converted to Kemetic-Neo-Pagan and adopted a broader span of Paganism instead of Kemetic-Orthodoxy, wich is technically Paganism but .. different in many ways, I know it doesn't sound like it makes much sense but it does to me,"

Judging by the look on Joey's face, Atem would venture that "doesn't make much sense" is putting it mildly

Yugi, who was also Pagan, seemed to keep up a little better, but even he seemed a tad lost

"Huh, interestin'.... so... what do you believe about bad people then? I mean, when somebody who's done rotten shit dies.... what happens?"

Atem knew Joey was asking about his father, the only trouble was, he didn't know if the blonde was hoping for the best... or the worst

Joey may have been greiving, but from the day they'd met Joey had consistently had nothing but bad things to say about his father, and had actually wished him dead on several occasions, granted those had been occasions of anger but still...

In cases like these, he supposed it was just best to be honest

"Well... in traditional Kemeticism, particularly bad souls were devoured by Amit, assumingly causing them to cease existence, but I personally am not sure how much of that I believe, I'm not sure a soul can ever stop existing entirely... what I personally believe in is a concept called The Left Door, when a particularly terrible soul dies, they go through a passage into what is essentially nothingness, if they reincarnate into a good life after that and the darkness is lifted from their souls, they can move on to a real afterlife, but if they continue to act upon evil, the cycle will just repeat,"

Atem was usually good at reading faces, but Joey's was nearly impossible to decipher at that moment

"Soo... what makes somebody bad enough to earn a fate like that? Or like gettin' eatin'?"

"That's the sketchy part, it was never clearly defined in Kemetic beleif what would make someone's heart heavy enough to outweigh Ma'at's feather, and since the concept of the Left Door isn't clearly defined either, there are no formal rules for it, I can say with certainty that you have to have committed some real atrocities to be considered a dark soul, petty things like shoplifting or cheating on a test may not be great, but they certainly don't make someone a 'dark soul',"

Joey nodded slowly, chewing on the inside of his cheek

He seemed lost in thought, his head hung, his arms crossed over his chest, just... deep in thought

"So... a question from someone who's still studying the Egyptian pantheon," Yugi said suddenly, pulling Atem's attention away from Joey, probably to give them _both_ a little peice of mind

"Where do you personally stand on demons?"

"I don't believe in them, I believe dark spirits exist, but not... 'demons', why do you ask?"

"Oh I was just wondering... considering that you thought Seto was one when you two first met,"

Turning red, Atem leaned over his partner's shoulder and grimaced

"I cannot believe you still have that photo on your phone...."

"It was a good picture,"

"It's a TERRIBLE picture!"

"To Atem's credit," Joey noted suddenly, pushing away from the wall and smirking, evidently putting the existential crisis away for now

"I _still_ think Seto Kaiba's a demon, just not for the same reason he did,"

Atem rolled his eyes, shaking his head, but still a bit relieved that Joey's mood seemed to be lifting

"Joey, I'm going to give you the same advice that the queen of Disney once gave- _let it go_ ,"


	2. My V Is For "Vendetta", Thought That I'd Feel Better, But Now I've Got A Bellyache

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Title: Bellyache by Billie Eilish https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBRi6aZJGj4

_"Well? What do you think?"_

_Atem glanced up from his drink, smiling sweetly at his partner as Yugi twirled around in his costume- Ariel's sailor dress, complete with the red wig, the big blue bow, and everything_

_And ofcourse, his boyfreind dressed as Prince Eric_

_"You two look absolutely adorable.... sickeningly so, it's making me jealous," he admitted with a long, loud sigh_

_"Don't worry Atem, you'll find a boyfreind soon," Yugi promised with a gentle, encouraging smile, reaching out to pat his freind's back_

_"Oh it's not really about that, I just wish I had someone to wear matching costumes with again, Joey took my cosplay partner from me," the cop huffed, nose wrinkling_

_"Well **Yugi** took **my** Halloween partner from me, maybe we should team up," Tristan teased playfully as he walked up behind Joey and gave him a playfull noogie to the head_

_"Yo! Dude! Quit fuckin' up my wig!!"_

_"Make me hot-shot!"_

_Yugi sighed quietly, shaking his head slowly as he and Atem leaned back against the table behind them and watched in mutual displeasure as the two vice cops wrestled around_

_"Honestly, you'd think they were still teenagers...." Atem mused with a roll of his eyes_

_"I guess that's a consequence of working with your highschool freinds," Yugi chuckled_

_"I suppose," Atem agreed, jumping slightly when his phone started to ring-_

_Well, "ring" is kind of a funny word for it, considering that the ring tone that particularly went off at that moment was actually just Mark Hamil's Joker laughing maniacally_

_"Gods, I am going to be **so** glad when you change that ringtone next month," Yugi muttered_

_"Yes... as Halloween ringtones go I'm not particularly proud of this one," Atem confessed, pulling his phone out and plugging one ear with his finger to better hear as he answered_

_"Captain, what do- ..."_

_Yugi's eyebrows raised slowly as he leaned in closer, curious as to what had Atem's relatively good mood diminishing so quickly into the more somber tone that had just fallen over him_

_"And you're.... sure that you need **our** \- ..? No no, I do want to, I just- ... yes, thank you Sir, we'll be right there,"_

_"Be right where? This is supposed to be our night off," Yugi frowned, following Atem quickly as his partner hurried towards the door, apparently ignoring Joey and Tristan as they tried to ask where he was going_

_"Kaiba Corp is having a Halloween party,"_

_"And!?"_

_"And, Seto Kaiba just got stabbed,"_

 

Last night may have been hell, but today....

Today seemed to be _heaven_

Aside from the little prickly tussle he had had with a certain blonde idiot, the morning had been pretty nice, and now it was early afternoon and Seto was comfortably laying on the beach, leisurely scribbling down some ideas he had for the new VR game he had been commissioned to do

An escape room company had asked him to design virtual dangers to go along with the puzzles and challenges the room raised

It was going to be an ENORMOUS pain in the ass to get his designs approved because they had to balance a very carefull line between scary enough to be stressfull but not _so_ scary that people are unable to complete the puzzles wile the danger obstacles were going, but it was going to be a really cool experience and the company was paying a truck load so he wasn't complaining ~~yet~~

He was considering taking a break to go for a quick swim, but before he could, he heard a familiar female voice calling out to him

"M-Mr. Kaiba!! Mr. Kaiba!!"

Sitting up slowly, the CEO tilted his sunglasses down as he watched the blue-silver-haired girl from last night run towards him

"Kisara, are you enjoying New Zealand?"

"W-What- ..? O-Oh.. yes it.. it's nice but... I have to tell you something," she said hurriedly, finally coming to a stop next to his beach umbrella

"Why doesn't this sound like good news?" he sighed, setting his notebook aside and giving her his full attention

"W-Well... because it.. it isn't...... um.. you see.. I-I..."

"Kisara, please just spit it out," he said curtly

He had had _far_ too stressfull of a night to be strung out on a single nerve ending because she couldn't just get to the bad news already

"Maximillion Pegasus is going to release videos of you at the carnival!" she explained hurriedly

Immediately, Seto paled, his heart sinking down into his stomach, and suddenly he was very, very glad to be sitting down

"... What?"

"I-I said-"

"No no, I heard you, I want to know the details, how do you know this? What makes you so sure?"

She took in a deep breath, her head hanging as she twisted her hands into the bottom of her skirt

"I... used to work for him, I was one of his assistants, I was asked to take notes at one of his meetings a-about a week ago... a-and......"

 

_"I've finally come up with the perfect way to get rid of Seto Kaiba,"_

_"And you're **sure** this time?" grumbled one of the old, bald associates_

_"Oh yes," Pegasus smirked back, grinning like the Cheshire Cat as he tossed a few strands of hair over his shoulder_

_"I've come up with quite the excellent plan, you see we can't kill Seto Kaiba, if he dies he'll just become a martyr- no pun intended, his death will have the exact opposite effect on the status of The Purge than Gozaburo's did, and we can't afford our numbers to take yet another blow, however, we can't just allow him to keep running his mouth either, if he keeps up all of this anti-Purge nonsense, he may actually convince someone to **do** something about it,"_

_"So what are you suggesting, Sir?"_

_"Delighted you asked Croquet!! I'm suggesting that we merely force Seto Kaiba's image to change! If he's seen as a hypocrite, no one will listen to another word he says about Purge-related politics, or anything else for that matter,"_

_"But .. Sir, how would we do that? Seto Kaiba has always been unwaveringly anti-Purge...."_

_"Why... we force him to participate in our carnival ofcourse! And we film it, then release the footage online,"_

_"And how do you plan to accomplish **that** Pegasus? If you've forgotten, Kaiba never spends Purge night in Japan," the same associate from before huffed_

_"Oh Mr. Yammamoto, ye of little faith, there are only two things in this entire world that make Seto Kaiba's cold, dead heart give a little tip-tap of a beat, and those two little things are FAR more important to him than his own safety and well-being,"_

_"And those would be?"_

_"His brother and his fiance', now his brother is a bit difficult to get ahold of, I admit, as per the .... **last** time we tried that, but his fiance' is one of Domino City's Finest! A police officer, few creatures are more accessible if given the right circumstances, and even better? Unlike his reptile of a lover, I have it on good authority that Atem Amyr has a big, warm, **squishy** heart full of love and freindship, how **fortunate** for us,"_

_"And that's fortunate for us... how, exactly?" Croquet ventured, causing Pegasus to sigh dramatically and roll his eyes_

_"Because Croquet, Seto Kaiba will notice the **moment** his little boyfreind has been taken, and he'll stop at nothing to get him back, Purge night or not, it's too risky if we have other options, however.... one of Atem's **freinds**.... now **they** will be easy to get ahold of, and if **Atem** runs off to rescue one of his little freinds from our carnival, Kaiba will certainly go with him, all we need is one short clip of Kaiba's presence at our event, and boom! We have the catalyst we need to blow up his public image- **and** his stance on The Purge,"_

_"I take it by your confidence that you already have someone in mind for this?" Yammamoto asked, eyebrows slowly raised_

_"Why yes.... yes I do!! As it turns out, one of Atem's freinds has a father who is **quite** deep in gambling debt, and I think it's juuust about time for one of our.... **independent business partners** to **collect** on that debt, don't you?"_

 

"When I heard all of this, I tried to get a message to you, a warning, but ... they caught me..."

"And I'm guessing that's how you ended up on the auction block?"

"Yes.... that's right," Kisara mumbled quietly, hanging her head and biting her lip

"And you waited this long to tell me because...?"

"B-Because I .. I couldn't get to you until now! Last night you and your fiance' took off before I could get the chance to warn you and when you got back to the jet you immediately went back to the private room and locked the door, when I went by your room this morning I nocked but there was no answer, I tried again an hour later but still nothing, so I started asking around and eventually found out you were here and- .. I.. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I just-"

"It's fine," he said suddenly and curtly, rising to his feet and hurrying to gather his things from the beach, keeping a steady, calm expression despite the emotional hurricane that was blowing through his veins

To say he was "panicked" was putting it extremely mildly, but he had plenty of experience with keeping himself together in the absolute worst of circumstances, as long as Atem and Mokuba weren't in danger, he could keep himself atleast _appearing_ nonplussed

"M-Mr. Kaiba, what are you going to do?" Kisara asked hurriedly, rushing along behind him as he quickly strode off of the beach and back towards the hotel

"First, I'm going back to Japan, tell Atem,"

"W-What!? W-Wait a minute, you can't-!"

 

Stopping suddenly, he paused and turned his head, sighing with a small shred of releif as he took note of Atem waving to him and walking his way, he must have come out from the other side of the hotel then...

"Nevermind, just go back to your room and relax, I'll handle things,"

Clearly, and with good reason, Kisara didn't believe him, shouting out for him again as he hurried towards Atem

"Seto, there you are!! Why are you heading back so soon?" Atem called curiously

Seto swallowed, not answering at first, trying to make sure his voice would be steady before answering, unfortunately, the longer it took for him to answer, the more concerned Atem became

"Seto...? Seto what's wrong?" the officer asked worriedly, starting to pick up the pace towards his fiance' as he began noticing the pale, tense expression on his face

"We have a problem,"

Atem swallowed, eyes narrowing as he reached out to grab Seto's hand

"What is it...?"

"Pegasus,"

 

_"So you really think Maximillion Pegasus has something to do with all of this?"_

_"I KNOW that he does," Atem corrected as he pressed the fourth floor button in the elevator and watched the doors close_

_"Who else has this big of a grudge against Seto Kaiba?"_

_"Oh I don't know, **every pro-Purger EVER** maybe?" Yugi frowned_

_"Even if other pro-Purgers could have pulled this off, none of them hate Kaiba as much as Pegasus does, you know there's a rumor that he's somehow responsible for Pegasus losing his eye? Now I don't typically put much faith in rumors but if Pegasus believes it too-"_

_"Then that's another reason for him to want revenge," Yugi concluded_

_"Exactly, Pegasus has three times the motive of every other Pro-Purger, not only because of politics, but for being a longtime competitor of Kaiba Corp's, and the eye thing, whatever that may be..."_

_"Plus he **does** have the resources for this, and I wouldn't put it past Pegasus to try something this sleezy," Yugi agreed with a slow nod_

_"Right," Atem agreed as well, stepping out of the elevator as soon as the doors opened and turning swiftly around the corner.... only to come to a dead hault in the middle of the hall_

_"Atem? Why'd you sto-"_

_"Shh!" Atem hissed immediately, his face pale, his hands trembling as he carefully held one arm out to keep Yugi behind him_

_"..'Tem...?"_

_"It's... it's the demon...." he breathed, clearly **terrified** as Yugi peered over his shoulder_

_"Oh come on Atem... not here, not now-"_

_"I am SERIOUS, aibou! That is the same demon I saw crouching over that grave this evening when I was praying! Now he's stalking Seto Kaiba's room, waiting for him to die so he can take his soul!"_

_"Ok first of all I **highly** doubt that, and second of all, as homicide detectives, aren't we, you know, **also** kind of waiting for Seto Kaiba to die so we know weather this is **our** case or the assault unit's?"_

_"No, we're waiting on him to wake up so we can **give** this case to the assault unit, but I am NOT letting a demon make off with Seto Kaiba's soul, that man may be a bit of an ass, but he's a bisexual icon, an anti-Purge advocate, and one of the most brilliant minds of our generation, Hell cannot have him!"_

_"Atem you don't even believe in hell..."_

_Not that he was surprised that his partner was so passionate about Seto Kaiba, he had known for years that Atem was a fan, no wonder their captain had called them into this investigation, Atem would have never forgiven the guy if he had asked someone else_

_"Well if it isn't a demon, Yugi, then what is it?"_

_"I don't know, a guy in a Halloween costume that looks suspiciously similar to that thing you like so much from Hannibal? Although I **do** admit that the way he's stalking around Kaiba's hospital room is kind of creepy, and since this was an assault case, we may be looking at the perp right there,"_

_"Or at a demon, you're forgetting that it was crouching over a grave earlier tonight and ran off when it saw me,"_

_"Ok you know what? Believe what you want, just let me be the one to pull the firearm ok? If you shoot and Internal Investigations finds out you thought the guy was a **demon** , you'll never get out of prison, and that's just assuming that don't hospitalize you," Yugi sighed, stepping quickly in front of his partner_

_"No!! Aibou wait-!"_

_"Turn around and put your hands where I can see them!" Yugi bellowed, his posture perfect, his gun raised and confidence in his stance as he stood his ground_

_"What is this all about?" the demon growled, prompting Atem to draw his gun as well- just in case_

_"It's about you stalking around outside of Seto Kaiba's hospital room, now explain why you're here," Yugi demanded_

_"What..? Oh for fuck's sake.... I **AM** Seto Kaiba,"_

_"Don't lie Demon! We know that Seto Kaiba is currently fighting for his life inside that hospital room, no doubt with no thanks to you!" Atem shouted_

_"I am not lying! **Seto** Kaiba wasn't the one who was stabbed, **Mokuba** Kaiba was!"_

_Slowly, the two officers exchanged glances, and Yugi lowered his gun, a mutual **"What?"** leaving both of their mouths at the same time_

 

"You are _not_ going back to Japan,"

The look on Seto's face had gone from desperate and frustrated.... to _furious_

"Like hell I'm not,"

"Seto!" Atem snapped, his eyes narrowed and his jaw tense

"Mark my words: You are _NOT_ going back to Japan! It's a ten hour flight! By the time you get there that footage will have been leaked all over the damn place, the safest thing for you to do is to just... call, just call Pegasus on a video chat, you can do that, can't you?"

"Unfortunately," Seto grumbled back, pinching the bridge of his nose

"I can get you in touch with him," Kisara piped up from the corner, immediately motioning for Mokuba to hand her the laptop he had just been working on

"Seto.... it's going to be ok," Atem promised quietly, reaching out to place a hand on his lover's shoulder

"No... Atem, it isn't, that motherfucker won't just want a pound of flesh to keep quiet about this, he'll want an entire fucking limb! What if it isn't enough? What if I can't afford whatever .. fucking cost he wants!?"

"Seto, look at me," Atem instructed gently, taking his lover's hands and carefully pushing him to sit on the edge of the bed before neeling down himself, squeezing both hands and staring directly into Seto's eyes

"Look me in the eye, and tell me _exactly_ what you can't afford to lose,"

Seto swallowed, inhaling deeply and looking into Atem's eyes, just as promised

"You and Mokuba,"

"That's right, and everything else is just extra, isn't it?"

"... Yes, Pharaoh,"

"Good boy, now, taking a long, deep breath with me ok? Inhale- one... two... three...- exhale- one... two.... three.... good,"

There was a pause, and Atem could see Seto visibly starting to relax

"Seto, listen to me closely, I am not going anywhere, ok baby? I am not going anywhere, nothing could ever happen to make me leave, and I'm sure Mokuba feels the same way, right Mokuba?"

"Ofcourse," the younger Kaiba spoke up immediately, taking a step closer to his brother

"Seto, you know I'm in this for the long haul, we're like the Winchesters, except, you know, if _you_ ever got sucked into Purgatory and told me not to come after you, I would _SO_ not listen to you,"

"Exactly!" Atem chirped enthusiastically, reaching one hand up to cup Seto's cheek and smirking teasingly at him

"And remember, I am the one who gripped you tight and raised you from perdition, you are mine, and I am never letting you go,"

"Well as cute as this little trip down the road so far has been, I'm not worried about either of you leaving willingly,"

Evidently, the pep talk hadn't done as much as Atem had hoped

Seto was usually so worried about being abandoned, Atem had just assumed this was one of those moments, he hadn't concerned how much graver Seto's thoughts were

"Sweetheart, nothing is going to ha-"

"You don't know that Atem, maybe it won't happen today, or tommorrow, or next week, but as long as that fucking Purge is in place, NO ONE can gurantee making it through another year, not even us, Pegasus proved last night that all of the planning in the world still can't beat good old fashioned supervillainry, if he wants to take us down, he will, Pegasus has always dealt with his problems under the law's nose but now that he can get rid of his problems legally? It may take him a year... but he'll find a way to do it, and that's only assuming he uses the Purge at all, you're a cop Atem, you're a homicide detective, all it'll take is paying off ONE crazy asshole with a gun and you're GONE regardless of what night it is, and Mokuba... you already know how often he's ended up a breath away from ending up as a pelt on that creepy fucker's wall... need I remind you of the night we met?"

Atem's frown only deepened more and more with each word, and by the time Seto finished with his rant of anxiety- albeit well-founded anxiety- the officer was, unfortunately, inclined to agree with him

"No.... no you don't need to remind me,"


	3. A Touch From Your Real Life, It's Like Heaven Taking The Place Of Something Evil

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Title- "Cherry" by Lana Del Rey

_"So let me see if I'm following.... your younger brother dressed up as you, and you dressed up as a wendigo, for a publicity stunt?" Atem asked skeptically_

_Frankly, he still wasn't completely sure if he was talking to Seto Kaiba or not, but the guy sounded like Kaiba well enough and he seemed.... insistent_

_"More or less, all it took were some platform shoes, a wig, and a pre-recorded message from me, people bought it hook, line, and sinker,"_

_"And no one had caught onto the truth until now?" Yugi frowned, equally as skeptical as his partner_

_"No, the paramedics did, the doctors did, but I'm guessing that you guys just didn't hear about it because of all the chaos this caused, everyone thought they saw Seto Kaiba getting stabbed so that's the word that's been spread like wildfire,"_

_He had a point... but still..._

_"So why exactly were you trying to pull some fucked up version of The Parent Trap?"_

_Whoever was underneath that make-up- body paint?- they atleast had Seto Kaiba's expressions down to a T, if the dramatic eyeroll was anything to go by_

_"The new game I announced tonight is a virtual reality horror experience, we wanted to make people question what they were really seeing, question what they believe, even question reality maybe, that's the entire point of the game, it's not about jumpscares or gore porn, it's a slow descent into paranoia, Mokuba was going to disguise himself as me, presenting the game, meanwile I was going to stalk around the audience and... have you ever gotten that feeling .. where you THINK you saw something but you're not 100% sure? That ... slightly creeped out, goosebumps, on-alert feeling? That's what I was trying to evoke, make people question what they were seeing, if I was real, what I was.... and then reveal it at the end, the game is based around that 'is-it-really-there' sensation, as you can tell by the trouble I'm having describing it, the only way to really explain the game is by feeling that sensation first hand,"_

_"And you chose the wendigo from Hannibal because....?"_

_"It was easy and a good fit, not only is it freaky looking, but it's a very vague, plain looking thing, something quiet and creepy that can move around giving people a start without being overtly horrifying, and I wanted to do something from pop culture so it would be a bit easier to explain away later, it was either this or Slenderman, but I didn't want to do Slenderman because of the potentially negative press I'd get, I still do alot of children's games after all, plus after the ... mania... that surrounded that thing, the last thing I wanted to do was potentially cause more believers in it, the Wendigo is a safer option, when people see it in association with Hannibal they recognize it right away, but until then, it's often hard for people to immediately harken back to anything pop culture related at all, even the most die-hard Hannibal fans probably wouldn't recognize it outside of the show's context, and especially in Japan where it's less popular,"_

_"Gee.... no shit...." Yugi said slowly, staring at Atem with a deadpanned, slightly irritated expression_

_Atem, knowing full well why he was being stared at like that, cleared his throat and tried to move on_

_"I see... and you can't just wipe off that make up on a napkin huh?"_

_"Afraid not, most of it is body paint, it has to be washed off, the make up on my face, however, is even harder, I used a waterproof make-up to put over the paint on my face so I have to use make-up remover to get it off now,"_

_"Why would you water-proof it? Were you intending to go out in the non-existant rain?" Yugi asked, clearly more curious than he was critical_

_"I had my reasons," the other man grumbled back_

_Now that Atem thought about it though..._

_Hadn't the "demon"'s eyes been watering when he saw him at the graveyard...?_

_Before anyone could ask anything further, the sound of someone's voice clearing interrupted the three of them, and they glanced up to see another officer standing in front of the hospital cafeteria table before them_

_"I spoke with Seto Kaiba's right-hand man and he confirmed the story,"_

_"Ah... thank you Ryou, do you know anything about Mokuba's condition?" Atem asked with concern_

_"Yes, he's improving nicely, I spoke with a doctor, he said the wound is quite shallow and missed all of the major organs, the assault unit is officially taking over,"_

_"I see, thank you again,"_

_Ryou only nodded politely before leaving, assumingly to get back to his own business_

_"I don't suppose you saw who stabbed your brother?" Atem asked with a small pout, watching as Kaiba shook his head_

_Ofcourse not_

_"Mokuba was on an elevated stage several feet from even the closest audience member to help sell the illusion that he was me, I couldn't have seen close enough to get a good look at the guy, and he was wearing a mask too, but I have a pretty good idea of who's responsible for it anyway,"_

_"Let me guess, Maximilian Pegasus?" Atem suggested, eyebrows raising_

_"How did you-?"_

_"He was my first guess too, but sadly we don't work on guesswork alone,"_

_"And now that Assault is taking over, we can't investigate further anyway," Yugi noted_

_Seto sighed quietly, giving a slow nod as he pinched the bridge of his nose_

_"Right, well, thanks for not shooting me I guess,"_

_"Don't mention it," Yugi teased, standing up and stretching_

_"Well, I'm going to go get some more coffee for the road, you want to sit here and give your feet a break wile I'm doing that Atem?"_

_"That would be nice, thank you aibou," Atem smiled peacefully, glad for the extended break_

_He hadn't intended to have done so much walking around when he originally put on these heels, needless to say he regretted it now..._

_"I would like to ask you one more question, however," the officer noted, turning his attention back to Seto_

_"Why were you in that graveyard earlier?"_

_Seeming surprised at first, and then a little embarrassed, the CEO looked down, rubbing the back of his neck_

_"I was ... leaving flowers for my mother,"_

_**Oh** _

_Now Atem REALLY felt like an ass...._

_"What about you? You're the one who went walking around in a graveyard dressed like a fucking angel of death,"_

_"... I'm supposed to be Maleficent," Atem grumbled, clearly getting a bit more embarrassment out of Seto as the officer looked away_

_"I was visiting my mother too.... she didn't die near Halloween but... it was always our favorite time of year, we were big horror nerds together..."_

_"You too?" Seto asked in surprise, his expression finally starting to turn a little more warm and peacefull_

_"Funny... until now I'd never met anyone else who bonded with their mom over horror,"_

_"Me neither.... even Yugi, who's almost as into it as I am, his mom can't stand this stuff, she's more of a Christmas person," Atem noted with a slight giggle of fondness_

_Mrs. Muto was like a second mother to him, but he couldn't help teasing every now and then about her extremely low threshold for all that goes bump in the night_

_"My dad was like that, he used to call my mom and I 'future Pamela and Jason Vorehees', sometimes he would walk in wile we were watching something heinous and start singing Christmas carols,"_

_"That's fucking hilarious!! I wish my dad had had that sort of humor, he was always kind of a horror snob, he thought my mother was ruining me," Atem laughed_

_And fuck if Seto didn't laugh too_

_He couldn't remember the last time he had talked about his parents- with anyone, much less a stranger, but with Atem it was just so... easy...._

_"I understand that too, my father was a very gentle, peacefull person, gods... I vividly remember him rushing to cover my eyes when I was four and watched 'Scream' with my mom... that's the first horror movie I remember,"_

_"No shit? The first horror memory I have is my mother reading The Shining to me when I was three, my father had tried to read a Winnie The Pooh book to me and- as my mother spent years reminding me- I evidently threw it across the room and started begging my mother for the 'redrum' story,"_

_"Fuck, your mother was hardcore,"_

_"She was, she was a costume designer actually, nothing theatrical but just... small, local things, I always tell people that if she had lived to see my bisexual awakening I'd probably be a drag queen now just because of her designing the most amazing costumes,"_

_"I could see that... my mother was never much of a seamstress but **food** , on the other hand, if she had lived long enough to teach me beyond the very basics of cooking, I bet I'd be a baker or something instead of a game designer, games were always my father's forte` and as much as I like them, I always preferred spending time with my mother,"_

_"I .. know the feeling, I loved my father, but my mother? I would have moved heaven and earth for her,"_

_Suddenly the previously joyous mood had turned somber, and the pain they had both been feeling earlier that evening was back with a vengeance_

_Seto never did know how to get out of these awkward moments except with curt goodbyes, but luckily, Atem, as someone who worked with death on a daily basis, knew how to lighten the mood again_

_"So, **what's your favorite scary movie Sydney?**?" he smirked, trying his best to imitate the voice changer Ghostface always used in Scream- it was harder than he thought it would be_

_"Honestly? After all this time, it's **still** Scream, hate me if you want but it's a masterpeice, maybe not quite 'scary', but it's intelligent, and I'll take a great plot with cheap scares over a cheap plot with good scares any day, my adrenaline wore out for horror **ages** ago anyhow, I honestly can't remember the last time any peice of horror media even made me jump,"_

_Ironically, Seto was fine with that, it was never the adrenaline rush that he liked with horror, it was always the thought process behind it_

_Horror often brought with it puzzles and mysteries and complex thought- good horror anyway- and that's what he loved about it far more than spine-tingling creepiness_

_"Ok, but wich one? There are four and two and a half seasons of the TV show,"_

_".. Two and a half?" Seto questioned slowly_

_"Well season three has been in production hell for over a year with no release date in sight, wich is a crying shame because one of the cute Teen Wolf boys is supposed to be in it,"_

_Ah right, he remembered hearing about that..._

_Somehow he didn't think that third season would ever see the light of day_

_"I'm going to have to go with the universally LEAST popular opinion and say the third one then, I don't know why, it just is, though the fourth is a close runner up, what about you though? What's **your** favorite scary movie?"_

_Atem thought for a breif moment, before a smirk came to his face, leaning back and pulling his phone out of his pocket_

_"I'll tell you what, the theme for it is Yugi's ringtone for this month, you guess what movie it is, I'll buy you dinner,"_

_"... Really? You, on a cop's salary, are going to buy me, a CEO, dinner?"_

_"Ok then, ice cream, Fucker, I can atleast afford that, unless you only eat some weird, expensive, exotic ice cream from Antarctica or some shit, like a douchebag,"_

_"... Coffee ice cream is fine, thank you,"_

_"Really? I'm a chocolate and peanut butter man,"_

_"Would you just play the damn song?"_

_Not that Seto wanted to make Atem leave faster or anything, but his curiosity was getting the better of him, it was just so rare that he got to have a real discussion with another Horror Goblin like himself, he was kind of reveling in it here and he didn't want Atem to ruin the mood with talking about ice cream flavors_

_"Alright, alright, jackass," Atem muttered back, finally putting the song on and leaning back, a smirk on his face_

_Unfortunately, that smirk didn't last long, Seto guessed within three seconds what it was- literally, three seconds_

_"A Summer Place, from Rose Red, did you really think I wouldn't know that?"_

_For a moment, Atem was just stunned, before **bursting** into a bout of joy-filled laughter_

_"Gods.. I cannot BELIEVE you knew that! And so quickly! How many times must you have watched that movie!?"_

_"Is it really a movie though? I thought it was a miniseries,"_

_"Don't pick hairs, I'm serious! I have NEVER met anyone who liked that thing as much as I do,"_

_"Oh I adore it," Seto noted casually_

_"I think it's horribly underrated and definitely one of King's best works, certainly my personal favorite of his,"_

_".. I am going to marry you," Atem said softly, his expression warm and his voice strangely calm and almost certain, as if he wasn't joking, but really, honestly predicting it_

_"And for our honeymoon, I'll take you to the REAL Winchester house," Seto suggested_

_"Ok but you'll have to smudge me as soon as we walk out of there, I am NOT bringing any of that shit home with me,"_

_"Oh I can smudge you all night," Seto teased, wich only made Atem laugh again_

_"Ok, that was a good one, but really, all joking aside, I'd love to see that place... but I'm .. not really sure if I want to set foot on those grounds, I don't want to attract anything evil,"_

_"You know all those people didn't actually die there right? The only person to die in that house was the owner,"_

_"I know, but as much as I adore haunted places, I still hesitate to actually set foot in one, I believe in that sort of thing, you know? I may not mind seeing a ghost, but I wouldn't want one to get attached to me and follow me home,"_

_Seto nodded with seriousness, reaching out hesitantly to wrap his hand around Atem's_

_"I get it, I may not feel the same way, but I respect how you feel all the same, I'd never put you in harm's way, and I would never, ever, push you to do something or go somewhere or experience something that you aren't comfortable with, I'm not that kind of person, I promise,"_

_Atem was honestly blown away by such a promise, the only people he knew to be so thoroughly gentle-natured and respectfull were Yugi and Joey, and even Joey had his moments of pushyness, never with anything serious but in the dumb frat boy way_

_And Atem had certainly never expected Seto Kaiba of all people, who had a reputation for being one of the most cold, aggressive, demanding people out there, to offer so much kindness upon barely even meeting Atem_

_"I - ... thank you, you truly have no idea how much that means to me,"_

_Seto knew_

_He had been getting people's opinions forced down his throat since the day Gozaburo adopted him, and he knew damn good and well how horrible it felt to be pushed into doing something you felt uncomfortable with because you had absolutely no other choice..._

_"Don't mention it, but you know, Mr. Stephen King Fan, the remake of 'IT' came out last month,"_

_"So it did," Atem nodded_

_"I assume you've seen it?"_

_"I have,"_

_"Well they're doing a part two,"_

_"Are they now?"_

_"And I was just thinking... perhaps you"d like to see it with me?"_

_"Isn't that movie two years away?" Atem asked with mild surprise, much to Seto's amusement_

_"Yeah,"_

_"Shouldn't we see how ice cream goes first?"_

_"Mm... maybe, but I have a pretty good feeling that it'll work out well,"_

_"Well in that case," Atem smirked, squeezing Seto's hand_

_"I'll consider it a date,"_

 

"You know.... something occurs to me," Atem mused slowly, head tilting to the side as he stepped closer to the desk chair where Seto was currently sitting

The first call to Pegasus failed, now Kisara was trying to contact him via a different number, and Seto was sitting at the desk, waiting anxiously for her to do so

"And that would be?" Seto mumbled quietly, rubbing his tired eyes

"You were wearing a mask during the entire time you were at the carnival last night.... weren't you?"

Suddenly, the entire room went quiet, and Seto slowly turned in his chair, his expression one of sheer amazement as he stared at his lover

"I - .. yes, I was..."

"Then is it really possible for Pegasus to make this play? I don't think editing software could remove the mask and leave the majority of your face in tact, and I highly doubt anyone would take Pegasus at his word, especially against your's,"

"So.... so that's it? Ya' just figured out how Kaiba gets outta this mess?" Joey asked in surprise

By now, everyone in their group had heard what was going on and had all gathered in Seto's suite to watch the events unfold and help if they possibly could, and they had all been tossing around ideas for how to stop the video from being released

But Atem may have just rendered all of that useless

"I .. think I did," Atem agreed slowly

"I mean why else wouldn't Pegasus have called you yet to taunt you?"

"He has a point, all we're going on is Kisara's word, and in complete fairness, I doubt Pegasus was anticipating Seto wearing a mask," Tea` agreed as well

"I don't know.... I wouldn't get comfortable just yet, Pegasus is a pretty greasy slime ball, who knows what he has up his sleeve?" Mokuba commented, shifting on his feet a little as Kisara stood from the bed and carefully set the laptop down on the desk in front of Seto

"Whatever it is, we're about to find out," she said quietly, taking a step back as the other game company owner answered the call

_"Kaiba Boy!!! What a lovely surprise! How are you? How's the husband-to-be? You two working on kids yet?"_

"Shut the fuck up Pegasus," Seto hissed into the computer screen

Pegasus feigned surprise, placing a hand to his mouth and gasping

"Oooh Kaiba Boy!! So hostile! What ever makes you so displea-"

"I know all about the video footage and your plans to use it against me,"

For a moment, Pegasus' face slipped from fake surprise, to minor irritation, before shifting into a menacing smirk

"Yes.... if I'm being honest, I wasn't expecting you to find out when everyone else does in a couple of hours, I assumed you would figure things out sooner one way or another,"

"Too bad for you Pegasus, that Seto was wearing a mask all night last night, you have no usable footage to use, no one will take your word over his," Atem said with confidence, both hands on Seto's shoulders, like a yakuza's wife standing behind her husband, or a bodyguard protecting a high-powered business man

Atem considered himself a little bit of both

_"Oh **hellooooooo** Officer Amyr!! Or, is it **Detective** now? You know, I always have such trouble remembering how all of that works, but no matter... you're wrong, in any case, regardless of how I address you,"_

"He's not wrong, I was wearing that mask during your entire carnival, I never took it off, and any film you edit, no matter how good it is, will have traces of being _edited_ , wich I can surely put my PR team on and exploit the fact that you tried to doctor footage to frame me," Seto insisted sternly

_"Ohh clever boy, well you're right about the mask, all of my carnival footage is ruined..... too bad that isn't the only footage I have from last night, now isn't it?"_

"... Excuse me?" Seto asked slowly, not sure what he was talking about

_"You made a little pitstop on your way to the carnival last night, didn't you? You killed my dearest, my darling freind Steve, and when you left, you tried to mow down a few innocent, peacefully purging clowns! And when that didn't work, you ended up getting into a scuffle with a group of party-purgers, up until Marik Ishtar saved you ofcourse, I have it all on **traffic cam footage** , even the part where you almost **shot** someone, Mr. Anti-Gun Advocate, you went on **quite** the crime spree! What did they call it in Kill Bill? A .. roaring rampage of revenge?"_

Seto, in that moment, felt as though his entire world was caving in around him

His chest felt tight, his eyes were starting to water, the weight of the universe seemed to be falling down around him now and it was about to **crush** him

_"It's ironic, isn't it? If you hadn't tried to run over those creepy clowns and had just moved out of their way and taken a different route... you probably wouldn't have run into the road-tacks and been forced to get out of your car and deal with those party-purgers, meaning you would have gotten to my carnival without ever leaving your car and getting your face splattered on camera, isn't that **funny** , how your lack of mercy damned you in the end? Oh I just love a good caveat!! I'll tell you a little secret, I was so thrilled when Croquet found that footage that I nearly wet myself, I mean it truly is one of the best joys of my career!!"_

As Pegasus chattered on and on, Atem sensed just how stiff and broken his lover was, one hand moving down to gently but firmly loop his finger into the D ring hanging from the slim day collar wrapped around Seto's neck, giving it a light but purposefull tug and wispering quietly into Seto's ear

"Seto...? You ok...?"

It was a rhetorical question, he knew, Seto obviously wasn't ok, but....

He wanted to remind his lover that he was there

Seto gave a slight, jerky nod, and swallowed hard, inhaling a long, slow breath, before exhaling it as well

"What do you want, Pegasus?"

_"Hmmmm??? Oh Kaiba Boy, I'm so **delighted** that you asked! I'm just so over the moon! I-"_

"Cut the shit and tell me!" Seto roared, his emotions clearly, finally, shifting from "Shocked" to "furious"

Pegasus' own expression shifted then, from one of falsely innocent amusement to one of sadistic pleasure

_"Very well then, I want fifty-one - no, not fourty-nine, not fifty, but fifty-one- percent of your company, and for you to step down from your anti-Purge nonsense and join the Pro-Purging side! Then I promise, I swear, I won't release the footage,"_

"NOT going to happen," Seto growled

_"Oh but it WILL happen, Kaiba boy, I hold all the cards, either you give in to my demands, or I release the footage and your name becomes as filthy as Gozaburo's was,"_

Seto tensed, his jaw clenching, his fingernails pressing hard into his palms, hard enough to leave little crescent moons imprinted into the skin

Atem wanted to help, but he was at a loss, he wasn't sure what to do...

"... 49%, I keep my anti-Purge advocacy, and you let my team personally scrub every last digital device your filthy fingers have ever touched to be sure that footage is gone,"

They could buy out their investors until Seto had fifty percent and Mokuba had one percent, that was how they had originally taken over Kaiba Corp anyway, it'd be fine, they could find a way to get rid of Pegasus later

_"Oh Kaiba Boy, didn't your father ever teach you how to negotiate? No dice, but I'm so impressed that you're willing to bargain with me, that I'll drop my price! Ok, ok, I won't push the pro-Purge thing, but.... you drop your anti-Purge sentiments entirely, publicly renounce them, and I'll split Kaiba Corp with you 50/50, ok? I'll even turn over all of the footage to you in any form you ask, how about that? Does that sound fair? Oh please say it's fair!"_

"Fuck that, I'm not renouncing anything!"

_"Well then, you leave me no choice, expect the footage to drop within the hour, goodbye, Kai-"_

"Wait!" Seto shouted in a panic, watching Pegasus in detest as the billionaire's lips quirked up into a small grin

"I... have another offer,"

_"I'm listening,"_

Seto swallowed, his throat tight and his hands shaking as he stared at the screen

"I'll.... drop out of the company completely-"

"SETO!" Mokuba screamed, but the older Kaiba brother held his hand up, forcing his brother to fall quiet

"I'll drop out... give Mokuba my shares... I'll give you 40% and he'll keep 60, I remain active against the Purge, and you let me wipe the videos,"

_"Your politics are so important to you that you would really drop out of your own company to preserve them?"_

"If I have to.... then yeah, I would,"

_"You know something Kaiba? I respect that, in complete and sincere honesty, I do, so I'm going to make you one final offer and be very, very generous to you, give your shares to your brother and I'll split the company with him 51/49 his favor, and you never speak of the Purge again, not pro, not against, just.... silence, in fact, I strongly invite you to move away from Japan all together, go to one of those boring anti-Purge countries you like so much, and ofcourse, you can clean the video footage, what do you say? Think about it Kaiba, what are you **really** losing? You take an early retirement in nice and fine New Zealand, you never have to speak about these unsightly things again, you can live on the beach with your hubby and future children! Get a nice cat! I'm giving you a **gift** ,"_

Atem waited in tense silence for Seto to make a counter offer or a refusal of some sort, but to his complete shock-

"I .... need some time to think about it,"

_"Alright then Kaiba Boy, that's a reasonable request and I'm a reasonable man, how does.... an hour sound to you? Will it work? An hour? Ooh please say an hour will be fine!"_

"An hour then," Seto grumbled, much to the sickeningly giddy delight of the silver-haired man

_"Oooh goodeie goodie goodie!"_

"But I swear Pegasus, if you release one SECOND of that footage ahead of time, you'll wish I had just purged you last night instead,"

_"Carefull there Kaiba, you'd think you would have learned your question about not checking for recording devices before doing something unpleasant,"_

Seto snarled, but did little else as Pegasus chuckled with joy

_"Anyhow, I'll call you back in an hour Kaiba-Boy~ I'll even provide you with this handy-dandy count-down clock to make sure you've got an answer for me on time! We wouldn't want you to still be at a crossroads when I return and thus force me to release the footage anyway now would we? Tata then!"_

Seto swallowed tightly, watching as Pegasus' screen turned black, a red timer taking it's place and starting to count down from 59:59

"Seto... you can't seriously be considering this, can you?" Mokuba asked quietly

"I don't know what I'm considering right now..." Seto mumbled quietly, slowly rising from his seat

Atem immediately took his hand, pulling him close and giving him a long, tight hug

Mai, in the mean time, had finally witnessed enough, and cleared her throat

"I'm going to step out, this is all too depressing and I need some fresh air," she noted casually, turning towards the door

"Want me to come with ya'?" Joey offered, perking up from where he was sitting next to Yugi

"No no, that's alright, you just stay here, really," she insisted after a moment, slipping out of the room and making sure the door was shut behind her

Giving a quiet sigh, she pulled her phone from her pocket and scrolled through her contacts until she arrived at the number she wanted, starting down the hall and making sure to keep her voice low, just in case someone had followed her

"Ishizu, it's me, where is your brother?"


	4. Darling Heart, I've Loved You From The Start, But That's No Excuse For The State I'm In

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Title- "Hardest Of Hearts" by Florence + The Machine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzXp3PaE-dg

_"Oh no... not you,"_

_Mai grinned, waving enthusiastically at the beautifull nurse as the far less amused looking woman stepped into the room_

_"Nice to see you too Sweet Stuff,"_

_"Miss Valentine, please tell me you did **not** get yourself shot just to see me,"_

_Mai's mouth fell open, feigning offense as she placed a hand on her chest and stared at the other with nothing but sheer horror_

_"I can't believe you think that way of me! I'm not THAT desperate,"_

_"Are you sure? I seem to remember **someone** couldn't even wait until we got home from dinner the other night," Ishizu noted with a deadpan_

_Mai only grinned at her, leaning a forward and placing her head on her hand, elbow resting on her folded legs as she stared at the nurse teasingly_

_"Sure, but I won't wait for dessert, but I'm not going to take a bullet to do the same thing that a nice bouquet of lilies could,"_

_Ishizu rolled her eyes, sighing dramatically... but ultimately walking closer and giving Mai a soft kiss on the cheek_

_"I'm happy to see you, but in the future, when you wish to visit me at work, please just bring me lunch instead of getting yourself admitted, hm?"_

_"I'll keep that in mind for the future," Mai smirked back teasingly, reaching up to pull Ishizu down by the scrubs for a much longer, deeper kiss_

_Unfortunately, the nurse pulled away far too quickly, much to Mai's pouting disappointment_

_"How long do you really think we can keep this up, Miss Valentine?" Ishizu asked quietly, taking a step back and crossing her arms anxiously over her chest_

_"What do you mean?"_

_For once, Mai was honestly confused, not just teasing for the sake of getting her girlfreind flustered_

_"This relationship of our's, whatever it is, we can't keep this up forever you know?"_

_The blonde's face pinched, her eyes narrowing as she straightened her posture and tightened her jaw_

_"No, I don't know, why **exactly** can't we keep this up forever?"_

_"Because you're a cop and my brother is a yakuza boss, you know this, it's the same reason we've been keeping this secret from the beginning,"_

_"Marik may be with the yakuza, but **you** aren't, last I checked that means there's nothing wrong with us dating, you're just an innocent nurse, I have nothing to arrest you for," she paused, smirking once again_

_"Unless you'd **like** me to, in wich case-"_

_"I'm serious, if your freinds and my family find out that we're together, it will put us **both** in danger, your freinds will see me as an in to get to Marik and Marik will see you as a problem that could get him caught, this won't end well,"_

_"Look, I can't speak for your brother, but my freinds aren't asshole-ish enough to use our relationship as some sort of foot in the door to catch Marik in his shady business, they're more decent than that,"_

_"You can't know that for sure," Ishizu said quietly_

_"Really? Why can't I? Look, I spent YEARS trying not to get attached to this band of lunatics but they've more than proven to me that they can be trusted, can't you believe that much? Can't you believe in **me** that much?"_

_"How can I? I can't even trust my own brother not to kill you if he sees you as a threat, how can I trust a bunch of strangers who have it in for him not to use me against him?"_

_Mai sighed loudly, pinching the bridge of her nose and looking down, her eyes heavy and downcast_

_"You're ending this.... aren't you?"_

_"No, not... not yet, I just wanted you to know that this ... this **fling**? It has to stay a fling, we can't let it grow too serious or too public, or someone will get hurt in the end, and I **really** don't want it to be you,"_

_Mai reached out, pushing herself closer and wrapping her hand around Ishizu's arm_

_"Then don't be the one to hurt me,"_

 

"You don't have to do this, Seto,"

"Actually, I think I do," Seto muttered back, his head hung and his expression listless

By now, they were back to having their room to themselves, and Seto was just glad for the privacy

"No, you don't! You can tell Pegasus to go to hell!! Look, the footage he has isn't _nearly_ as bad as what Kisara thought it would be, you didn't do anything illegal, you didn't even kill anyone! No one can hold that against you, especially when you come out and explain the situation,"

"It isn't about right and wrong, it's about trust and doubt, no matter how much I explain things away, no matter if I have proof or not, the fact is that my anti-Purge stance has been entirely based around the public's trust in me, I've consistently gone against everything Purge related, condemned it with every breath in my body, I even make it well known that I leave the country before Purge night, but now .... no matter what my reasons were, people have proof that I participated in the Purge-"

"No, people have proof that you were _attacked_ during the Purge,"

"You're forgetting that I tried to run over some clowns who were doing nothing but being annoying, Pegasus is a master at spinning stories, he'll spout off all kinds of lies about how this probably isn't even my first Purge and how I was just trying to run them down out of anger- wich isn't even a fucking lie, and no matter how much people may think he's lying, no matter how much they may believe my side of the story, there will always be _doubt_ , and doubt can destroy my entire platform, the fact is.... this is all my fault.... Pegasus was right, if I had just turned away then he'd have nothing... but because I let my anger get the best of me and went for violence instead of avoidance-"

"If you had done that you wouldn't have met Marik and then you would have ended up on camera at that auction without a mask," Atem noted, wich seemed to give Seto a pause of thought, but ultimately did little to cheer him up

"Atem.... it's still my fault... this is _all_ my fault....."

Atem sighed quietly, his shoulders sagging as he reached out to gently take squeeze his lover's shoulder, moving to settle in his lap and wrap his arms around him, his hand moving up gently from his shoulder so that he could cup his face

"Seto, I'm not going to tell you what to do, this is ultimately your decision, and whatever decision you make, I'm going to support you, I will be at your side no matter what, weather you're a CEO or retired before you hit twenty-five, no matter if you're a sinner or a saint, rich or poor, in sickness and in health... as long as we both shall live, and for an eternity after that,"

"We're not married yet," Seto noted quietly, sniffling as he finally looked up at his fiance', his eyes watering, but not letting the tears fall, not yet

"I don't care, that's how I feel now, that's how I'll feel then, that's how I'll always feel," he promised, giving the CEO a soft, small kiss, before pulling away and looking considerably more stern

"I will stand by you no matter what decision you make... but I _won't_ stand by and let you blame yourself for something that isn't your fault, this is all on Pegasus, every last ounce of it, he's the reason you were there that night, he's the reason Joey was sold, he-"

"He didn't cause _all_ of it Atem, I did,"

"Seto-"

"There's something I haven't told you,"

Finally deciding that Seto wasn't going to listen to him until he got whatever this was off of his chest, Atem settled down and slowly nodded, waiting to hear what Seto had to say

"I'm the one who got the Purge started in Japan, I killed Gozaburo, not a home-invader, I started this all.... it's all my fault,"

Atem was quiet, nodding slowly as he watched his lover finally break down in tears, but wasting no time in gently sweeping his thumbs beneath Seto's eyes, trying to clear away the salty streaks as they trailed down his cheeks

"It isn't your fault, love, they would have instituted this bullshit anyway, they were just looking for a good excuse, and if not Gozaburo, they would have just found someone else to use as their excuse, it isn't your fault baby... I promise you, I swear, it isn't,"

Seto stared up at his lover in confusion, eyebrows pinching, tears still tumbling down his cheeks, and searching desperately for any hint of doubt or uncertainty in Atem's face

But there was none

Atem was as solid as a rock, as certain as they came, and Seto couldn't understand how or why

"Don't you.... don't you atleast want to know why?"

"Honey... it was no secret that Gozaburo was an abusive fuck, I'm sure whatever he was doing- or planning to do- to you... or more likely to Mokuba... was well deserving of your vengeance, I'm sure you were just protecting yourself or your brother or... both, how could I _ever_ hold that against you?"

Seto only shook his head, reaching out and wrapping his arms tightly around his fiance', finally allowing himself to break down, to sob, to let out all of his hurt and frustration and anger in those tears

And Atem accepted them all

He did what Seto needed him to do most and simply allowed the CEO to release all of his pain, to let go, to cry until he couldn't cry anymore

It was a rarity for Seto to cry, ofcourse, but it wasn't completely unheard of

The last time he could remember Seto crying was a much... _different_... situation

 

_"Atem!? ATEM!!!"_

_Atem winced, his nose wrinkling as he waited... waited....._

_Finally the door slammed open and Seto flew in like a bat out of hell, practically charging as he rushed to the bed and wrapped his arms around Atem, hugging him so tightly that the officer could barely breathe_

_"S-Seto...... Seto.... you're squ-... squishing.... me...."_

_Releasing him just as suddenly, Seto let go, backing up just enough to gently cup his lover's face and stare down at him, seemingly to make sure that he was alright_

_There were already tears in Seto's eyes and his chest was heaving so hard that Atem was starting to worry that he was going to hyperventilate_

_"A-Are you... are you alright?! I got- .. I got the call, you- .. you-..."_

_"I'm fine," Atem promised softly, taking his lover's hand and kissing his fingers_

_"You were **shot!** "_

_"In the shoulder,"_

_"You were still **shot**! Who did it!? Was it a Pro-Purger? Pegasus? A perp!?"_

_"A **perp**...?"_

_Please tell him Seto hadn't just used that word..._

_"It wasn't any of those-"_

_"Then who?!"_

_"Seto," Atem said quietly, shifting carefully closer to the center of the bed tugging on Seto's hand and pulling him to sit on the edge of the bed with him_

_"Seto... honey... have you watched the news today?"_

_"No...? No, when would I have done that? You missed our dinner date so I started a fucking man hunt for you,"_

_Shit..._

_This was even worse than Atem had first thought_

_Carefully, and with utter gentleness, he tugged Seto even closer, forcing the sub to lay his head down on Atem's chest, rubbing his back carefully to keep him calm_

_Hopefully_

_"Seto... honey.... there was a pride ralley downtown today,"_

_"I know, I wanted to go but I had an important meeting in Tokyo this morning and couldn't be back in time,"_

_"Ok.. well, it's a good thing for that meeting then,"_

_Slowly, Seto looked up, confusion painted on his face_

_"What do you mean?"_

_"Honey.... there was a guy at the ralley with a gun... it's... it's all over the news..... that's where I was today, now there isn't much damage, don't panic, no fatalities, only a few injured, the moron clearly wasn't counting on Domino being full of queer cops, a few of us took him down after the first couple of rounds were fired, everything is fine-"_

_"It is **not** fine!!" Seto shreiked, pushing himself up and staring at Atem with absolute **agony** contorted on his face_

_"I should have been there! I should have been there to protect you!! FUCK! If I had just gone like I'd planned instead of fucking **working** -!"_

_" **Protect me**? Seto you are NOT Superman, you're not bulletproof, what could you have protected me from? And besides that, are you forgetting that **I'm** the cop here? It's **literally** my job to protect people, including you, not the other way around,"_

_"But-"_

_"Seto, I'm serious, you have NO. REASON. to feel guilty for this, there's nothing you could have done,"_

_Seto seemed considerably dissatisfied with that answer, his gaze turned down, his head hung, Atem could feel the tears falling from his lover's eyes, prompting him to gently tilt Seto's head up and pepper little kisses against his face, trying to kiss the tears away_

_He hoped it would help_

_"You and Mokuba are all I have," Seto said quietly, sniffing as he turned to rest his face in his lover's chest_

_"I only care about two people.... I need to protect them, I **have** to protect them..... I **cannot** let you go..."_

_"Seto... sweetheart..... you're not letting me go," Atem promised, hugging him a little bit tighter, as much as he could with a bullet wound healing in his shoulder_

_"I'm right here,"_

 

Atem had known since nearly the beginning of their relationship that Seto was incredibly prone to guilt, it shouldn't have surprised him at all that this situation in particular would be something of a peak to that tendency

No wonder Seto was so extremely anti-Purge, why he hated guns, why he despised violence....

Now that Atem knew the entirety of the truth, he understood those things even better, wich made the next words out of Seto's mouth entirely unsurprising

"I have to take the deal,"

By now, the two were laying down, both in silence

Seto had stopped crying about five minutes ago, and though Atem had hoped for the best, he expected the worst

And the worst, it just so happened to be

"Is that what you _want_ to do?"

"No, ofcourse not, but it's what I _have_ to do, the Purge is all my fault, I have to do **everything** in my power to stop it, and ... people are horrible, if we've anything over the years, we've learned that, if this video getting leaked has the potential to undo all of my work.... fuck even if it only does... 20% damage, wich I gurantee you is a fucking fool's dream of a low percentage, I mean fuck, my approval ratings dropped by that much just when we made our relationship public, and that was years _after_ I'd already come out- ... the point is... that's still too much, I can't let the Purge keep going, even if it costs me my company...."

He paused, swallowing tightly and slowly looking up at his lover, his dominant, his fiance' ...

_Atem_

"Besides, you and Mokuba are all that really matter, everything else is just extra... right?"

"That's right baby," Atem promised, hugging his lover a bit tighter and kissing his forehead

This decision was going to rip out Seto's heart, and Atem knew that

Kaiba Corp was his baby, and even though he said that Atem and Mokuba were the only important things to him, Atem knew that wasn't true

Not only was Seto giving this up, he was giving up a large part of it to someone he hated more than anyone else

It was killing Atem that he couldn't fix this, that he couldn't make it better, that he was just..... _helpless_

He had gone into law enforcement specifically to _avoid_ being helpless, and yet....

"I keep going over it, back and forth.... wondering what would have been worse," Seto mumbled quietly, pulling Atem away from his thoughts

"What do you mean?"

"I mean.... this, would it have been worse to have swirved away from those clowns and never met Marik... or worse like this.....?"

"Trust me, not meeting Marik would have been worse, as much as it pains me to say this, he did alot for us, for you, I'd say we owed him if not for the fact that he's a mob boss,"

"I guess," Seto muttered tiredly, his eyes drooping

He was so exhausted, and he just wanted to sleep...

But he couldn't let himself rest until the conversation with Pegasus was over, he didn't have that long before the countdown clock hit zero, he didn't need to risk sleeping through it and all of this stress having been for nothing...

"Do you wonder... why Marik is anti-Purge? I mean he kills people year-round and he obviously had no problem pulling the trigger last night, yet .... he didn't really seem to be lying last night either.... just makes me wonder I guess..."

"I suppose even Marik Ishtar isn't all bad,"

"Strange to think you can rely on yakuza more than your own government... strange, but not surprising, no offense, Officer,"

"None taken, I don't even disagree with you, in fact, if anything, being a cop has shown me that some yakuza have stronger codes of ethics than some _cops_ , wich is a terrifying reality to live in,"

It kind of made Atem think too....

Maybe, just maybe, there _was_ a way for him to make this right....

"I just can't believe I'm really losing Kaiba Corp...."

Atem squeezed him tighter, sitting up carefully and staring down at his over as he cupped a hand under Seto's chin

"Don't count yourself out yet, my love, I might have a way of fixing this..."

"Atem... I appreciate the hope, but there's nothing you can do," Seto frowned, a little confused by the sudden bout of confidence

"Seto, have I ever broken a promise to you?"

"No... you haven't,"

"Then don't underestimate the power of a pharaoh, I _promise_ , I will make everything ok again, I'm going to fix things, ok?"

Seto nodded slowly, eyes closing peacefully as Atem kissed his head once more

"Good boy, are you going to be ok on your own for a moment? Just ten minutes, I promise, is that alright?"

"Yes, I'll be fine Pharaoh,"

"You sure?"

"Positive,"

"Good boy," Atem grinned, kissing his lover's nose before slowly rolling out of bed, reaching out to run his fingers through Seto's hair affectionately and grinning a little at the mess he had made of his lover's hair

"You look like such a mess," he noted playfully, making Seto's lips twitch up into the smallest ghost of a grin

"Why don't you clean yourself up a little now hm? By the time you're done, I'll be back,"

"Ok," Seto promised quietly, reaching out to take Atem's hand and giving it a squeeze, his eyes focused on the cop's as he stared up at his beloved's face

"I love you Pharaoh,"

"I love you too baby," Atem promised, giving him one last kiss before reluctantly pulling his hand away and making his way out of the hotel room

Suddenly reinvigorated, the officer hurried down the hall, his mind focused on the task ahead

He and Marik had been enemies for years now, but last night seemed to prove that, atleast in some aspects, they shared similar goals, and they could work together

He hoped that wasn't just a one-time thing

He hoped that he could count on Marik one last time

He knew he was putting himself and his career at great risk for this, but if he could just make a deal with the yakuza boss, just once, maybe he could get Marik to pull a rabbit out of his hat and destroy that footage remotely or something, or maybe he had something on Pegasus that he could use against the other billionaire, just.... _something_...

Marik was slippery that way, he always seemed to have the upper hand somehow or another

He took in a shakey breath as he tapped on the hotel room door in front of him, rocking on the balls of his feet, waiting impatiently as it finally opened

"Duke, do you have Marik Ishtar's number?"

Blinking in surprise, the vice cop raised his eyebrows, but gave a slow nod anyhow

Duke was a master at undercover and went under often, he was currently in a deep cover mission involving several yakuza bosses throughout Japan, and Marik was one of them

"Yeah, why..?"

"Can I borrow it?"

Without even questioning it, Duke immediately nodded, pulling his phone out and holding his other hand out for Atem's

This was ... this was the biggest risk Atem, had ever taken

It was no longer Purge Night after all, everything he did and said would be held to the standard of the law, and without knowing what Marik may ask for....

He didn't care though

He didn't care

At the end of the day, what mattered to him most was protecting Seto, in every way possible


	5. Oh My God, I Think It's Karma

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Title- "Karma" by Marina https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ercWS-jUt0s
> 
> Certain quotes (you know wich ones) are from Kill Bill

_"Seto? Are you ok?"_

_Slowly, the CEO shook his head, exhaustion clearly dripping through his expression as he tossed his coat over the back of his desk chair and flopped down on his back, reaching out silently for his lover_

_Atem, who had been looking over some work in bed, eagerly pushed his files aside and crawled closer, allowing his lover to pull the little cop on top of himself, Atem's legs gently straddling his lap as the CEO himself reached up to start carding his fingers through his partner's hair_

_"You've had a long day, hm?"_

_Another silent nod, wich was just proof of how bad it had been_

_Seto had a tendency to get very quiet when he had been through a particularly stressfull time, and though Atem would never push him to speak if he didn't want to, he did want to poke around a little and see if Seto **needed** to talk and just... didn't know how to start_

_That was a very common with his lover_

_Seto never quite knew how to express himself with words when he was feeling upset, the most he could seem to do was scream at the wind when he was angry, but even that was usually just spouting off whatever insults and obscenities came to mind first, rarely did he really lay out how he **actually** felt about things without a little carefull prompting and kneading from his dominant_

_"Do you want to tell me about it?"_

_".. I.. don't know,"_

_Well, atleast that was a start, and it was an honest one at that_

_That was good_

_"Ok, how about... I talk, and you can jump in when you have something to say, how does that sound?"_

_Seto nodded eagerly, laying still as Atem leaned forward, gently taking both of his wrists and putting them above Seto's head_

_He didn't hold them there, but when he pulled back, Seto's hands stayed perfectly in place, just as Atem had expected them to_

_"Good boy," he breathed, leaning down to give him a little kiss as he started running his fingers gently down the centers of Seto's wrists_

_And then Atem started talking about his day_

_He started from the moment that he and Seto had parted for work, went on about how he and Yugi had been doing alot of desk work lately and then got called in for a case at a hotel downtown, commented that he had been tempted to walk across the street to pop in on Seto, as Kaiba Corp was only a few blocks away from the place, and finally, by that point, Seto was prompted to speak_

_**Good** _

_"I wish you'd come by, seeing you would have made things better,"_

_"Oh really? Mmm.... it was around one o'clock... I thought you'd be at a meeting or something, wich is why I didn't,"_

_"I was... but I wish.... I just wish I'd been able to see you sooner,"_

_"Care to tell me why?" Atem asked softly, kissing the corner of his lover's mouth as he moved his hands slowly down his lover's arms, massaging lightly, then letting them travel down to his shoulders_

_"Because seeing you always makes me feel better, and gives me confidence,"_

_"I give you confidence huh? And what did you need that for?"_

_Seto turned his head, suddenly no longer looking Atem in the eye, wich prompted Atem to push down on a particularly sensitive spot in his shoulder, making Seto grunt in slight pain, but relax immediately after_

_That spot always got knotted up pretty badly_

_"Remember me telling you about that theme park that I was talking to? About doing a fantasy VR experience for their new location?"_

_"Yeah.... I remember that, were you meeting with them today?" Atem asked softly, his hands moving down to start tracing gently up and down Seto's chest, his fingers drawing little patterns over his lover's ribs, making pointless designs in his muscles_

_"Yeah... that's who I had lunch with,"_

_"Oh? And how did it go?"_

_"Fucking terribly... they only met with me to tell me that they were going with Industrial Illusions instead,"_

_"Did they say that?" Atem asked in surprise, head tilting_

_Businessmen usually had far more tact than that... maybe Seto misunderstood_

_It wouldn't be the first time_

_"Not in those words, but the bastard running the place said that he wanted me to 'be aware' that Industrial Illusions 'aligned better with their current prospects', no matter what I showed them, they just didn't care, it's because Pegasus is pro-Purge and I'm not, I researched the guy after that terrible lunch and sure enough, he's a staple every Purge night in America, he even donates heavily to the NFFA,"_

_Atem tightened his jaw, his eyes narrowed as he moved his hands down to trace playfully over Seto's belly, letting his fingertips smooth out over each little ripple of muscle and even dip into his bellybutton, just in the hopes of keeping things light and playfull_

_"That's horrible,"_

_"No shit.... I really wanted this account too, not ... for any financial reason but... it's a pretty big place for kids... I had this great Alice In Wonderland-esque experience I was going to make too..."_

_"Couldn't you always still make it?"_

_"I guess I could for Kaiba Land but... I don't know, it just isn't the same... I really wanted it.. and it just pisses me off that of all things, they're going with Pegasus because of politics, not because of who has the better game,"_

_"I know... I know that must hurt," Atem said quietly, his hands pausing just over Seto's hips_

_"Would it make you feel any better to have a scene? We could roleplay something if you want, have a little fantasy of our own?"_

_Seto nodded eagerly, and Atem smiled, giving him another kiss before slowly climbing off of him_

_"Ok sweetheart, pick out something from the box, put it outside the door, and get ready for me, I'll be back in a few minutes,"_

_"Yes Your Majesty," Seto hummed softly, feeling more relaxed already just from Atem's gentle, affectionate touches_

_He still felt like shit, but atleast he was relaxed_

_Atem blew him a kiss and stepped out of the room, starting down the hall_

_They kept their toys and gear in a separate room so that Atem would have a reason to leave long enough to give Seto time to get ready before a scene, be it something elaborate like setting up the bedroom in a certain way or getting in a particular headspace, or just to undress and wait for his pharaoh's return_

_It gave Atem time too, to get dressed or to come up with a plan for what he wanted to do, or even just to force Seto to wait on him for a little wile to insure that he was in a particularly malleable headspace when he returned_

_There were several good reasons for keeping a door- or several- between the bedroom and the kink room, and on the occasion that one of them was feeling particularly clingy and didn't want the space between them, the kink room had plenty of space- and furniture- to play with anyway_

_Atem had to admit, there was something to be said for being a kinky person and having the money to outfit a room especially to home said kinks..._

_There was, however, another reason that he had left the bedroom, and that reason happened to be a few feet away now_

_"Ah, Isono!"_

_Stopping dead in his tracks, Seto's most trusted employee turned around and greeted Atem with a polite nod_

_"Master Amyr, what may I do for you today?"_

_"Could you tell me the name of the place Seto was meeting with today? The American company he had lunch with?"_

_Despite his expression not changing much, the older man did seem relatively confused, but answered all the same_

_"I believe they were called Tidal Wave Parks, Sir,"_

_"Thank you, I appreciate it!" Atem grinned, waving breifly to the other man before rushing down to the opposite end of the hall- actually making his way to the kink room now_

_He stopped only breifly enough to pick up the papper that was waiting under the bedroom door for him, but didn't yet bother to look for it as he took his cell phone out of his pocket and stepped up to the room in question, one hand clicking through his contacts, the other letting the print-scanner outside of the door scan his thumb_

_"Rebecca? Hi, this is Atem Amyr, Yugi's partner?" he said, watching as the light on the scanner turned green and granted him the ability to open the door_

_"Yes it's nice speaking with you again too, listen, I was wondering if you could do me a small favor, could you look into the tax returns for a company called Tidal Wave Parks?"_

_Stepping into the room, he turned the lights on and immediately walked to the back where the clothes and costumes were, whatever Seto wanted, he was going to make it elaborate_

_"Great, and you're going to be home on Purge Night aren't you? Isn't that about a week from now in America? ... I thought so, then could you do me just one teeny tiny favor? You won't even have to leave your house," he noted, settling the phone between his shoulder as he opened the door to the walk-in closet_

_"I just need you to make a little.... arrangement, for me, wile it's Purge night, I need these particular business people to make a deal with Kaiba Corp, you see, but I need to be absolutely sure that they won't suspect Seto is in **any** way manipulating the Purge to his advantage, so ... say whatever you have to say to make sure that they don't do a deal with Industrial Illusions, pull this off for me, and I can gurantee you those concert tickets you've been after,"_

_After all, Seto could probably buy an entire city without any problem, some sold-out concert tickets shouldn't be an issue_

_"Thank you Rebeca, really, I owe you!!"_

_Seto would feel better soon, and in a couple of weeks, he would get the pleasant surprise of getting the deal he so badly wanted_

_Atem wasn't doing anything wrong, not really_

_He was just fighting back against a corrupt company_

_And if they weren't fucking around with their taxes, they probably wouldn't have anything to worry about anyway, but Atem knew how these high powered companies were, Seto prattled on and on and on about them often enough and as a cop, he had seen plenty about it himself too..._

_A little **legal** bribery and threats wouldn't hurt anyone, after all, it would be Purge Night, no one had to know about anything, right?_

 

At first, when Seto heard the nock on the door, he assumed Atem had forgotten his key and immediately stopped what he was doing, shirt half-buttoned as he rushed to open it...

And immediately souring when he saw the blonde in front of him

"What do you want?" he spat

He knew logically that none of this was Joey's fault, it was all on Pegasus, but his emotional mind was screaming that if it hadn't been for Joey and Atem's attachment to him, none of this would be happening in the first place

That, and he was still rather sour over how the blonde had treated him for the past three years...

But the cop didn't look like he was there to fight or to gripe or to cause any issues, he actually looked .. sad... or sympathetic, it was hard for Seto to tell

"I saw 'Tem leave a few minutes ago, I wanted to talk to ya' wile he was out,"

"Sure, why not? You can't possibly make things worse so come in," Seto huffed, turning away from the door and going back to buttoning his shirt

He heard the door shut a moment later as Joey stepped inside, but didn't bother to turn around

"Look... what ya' did earlier.... I know how hard that was an' I just wanted to tell ya'... I'm real sorry it happened, I feel kinda responsible,"

 _"You should"_ is what Seto wanted to snap out, but he knew this wasn't Joey's fault, and since Atem had started training him, he had gotten alot better at acting on his anger-prone impulses

....

You know, last night excluded

"Thanks, but it wasn't your fault, it was Pegasus'," he finally said

"Yeah I know.... fucker.... I wish somebody'd just fuckin' pop 'im off.... what he did to 'Tem last year was bad enough but this? Fuck...."

"Mm-hm," is all Seto hummed out, finishing with his shirt and heading out to the bathroom to grab his brush, hoping to get his hair somewhat under control

"Look, I really- .... I wanted to apologize for all the shit I've put ya' through the last few years.... I .. I get it now, ya' know? Ya' really aren't the selfish asshole I thought ya' were... can we start over?"

Seto stepped out, his eyes narrowed, taking note of the fact that the blonde was sitting on the edge of the bed, clearly prepared to stay this through

"So let me get this perfectly straight-"

"That'd be a first," Joey snickered, but quickly stopped upon seeing Seto's face

"Sorry sorry.... bi jokes are my specialty, go on,"

Well it hardly held the same impact now but-

"After all this time, after I was forgiven by Atem, forgiven by Yugi, after I fucking saved your LIFE last night at my own expense, after everything I've done to try to make up for that day, giving up my company is what convinces you I'm a decent person!?" he screamed

Now he was just...... offended

He was _hurt_

It felt like a dig, like a slam, like Joey was only forgiving him because he was at his lowest and the blonde felt like he had finally been kicked in the balls enough to have satisfied being "punished" by the universe or .... something

"It ain't like that," Joey sighed back, waving Seto over, but the CEO didn't budge

"All that other stuff b'fore.... I dunno... I assumed ya' were doin' all that for Atem.... everything ya' did .. it was in front o' him or about him or ... even savin' me... be honest, if I wasn't Atem's best bud, ya' would've just let 'em cut my dick off, ya' would've been chillin' on the beach here yesterday afternoon if it weren't for wantin' Atem to be happy, but.... this wasn't for Atem, it wasn't about him, or about his forgiveness, it was just... the right thing to do, for the greater good, so no part of it is selfish, I guess that's what I'm tryin' to say,"

Seto inhaled tightly, then slowly, quietly, exhaled, letting his shoulders sag as he stared down at the ground

".... So you're serious then?"

"As a heart attack,"

"You know I still don't like you, right?"

"Ya' know I didn't _want_ ya' to like me all this time, right?"

"So where does this leave us?" Seto asked, crossing his arms over his chest

Joey shrugged, giving him a small smile as he slowly stood up

"I dunno, somewhere 'tween hatin' eachother an' likin' eachother? We could start over, that's all I'm offerin' here," the blonde noted, holding his hand out expectingly for the CEO

Seto bit his tongue, but....

He supposed if he was essentially starting over with everything else too...

"Alright," he finally decided, reaching out and shaking the other's hand

"You've got yourself a deal,"

At that moment, the door opened, Atem stepping in and looking somewhat.... frustrated

Apparently whatever he had gone off to do earlier hadn't panned out after all

That was somewhat expected though, Seto hadn't gotten his hopes up for a reason

"You two are holding hands, should I be worried?" he asked teasingly, though it was clear how tense and beside himself he was

"Nah, Kaiba an' I just have a better understandin' o' eachother, that's all," Joey shrugged back, pulling away and allowing Atem to step forward and give his lover a tight, comforting hug

"I'm sorry baby...."

Marik wasn't picking up his phone, and now it was only seconds before the hour was up

There was no time left

"It's ok," Seto promised, giving his beloved fiance' a kiss and stroking his thumb over Atem's face

Atem shook his head, not personally believing that it was, but not knowing what else to do

After that, people started trailing back in, and before they even all had gotten settled, there was a video call ringing on Seto's laptop

The CEO looked as pale as a sheet, his heart racing as he slowly sat down at the desk and answered the call, taking a shaky breath as Atem took the same position he had taken before, squeezing Seto's shoulders and clearly trying to soothe him

_"Oooh you really picked up! Tell me Kaiba Boy, do you have an answer for me yet?"_

Seto inhaled through his nose, reaching up and taking Atem's hand, squeezing it as tightly as he could before forcing the answer out of his mouth

"Yes..... I'll take your deal,"

Pegasus, grinning like a supervillain, started bouncing excitedly in his chair, clapping and giggling like a maniac

_"Ooooh goodie goodie goodie!!!! I'll tell you what, because I'm SO glad you made the right choice, I won't even make you come to Japan to sign the contract! I'll fly to New Zealand right now, how does that sound?"_

"Bad," Seto snipped

He would need time to buy out the other investors after all...

_"Well you don't have to sign right this moment, you can have a few days, I just want to... keep an eye on you, that's all, make sure our deal stays a deal, hm? Oh this is so exciting! It's been so long since I've frolicked amongst the Kiwi!!"_

"Ew," Mokuba grumbled from behind his brother's seat

Of everyone, he definitely hated this deal the most, he'd be stuck having to wrestle every last decision past Maximilian fucking Pegasus until he managed to get the majority of the company back, and he'd be doing it alone, at that....

_"I'll ready a plane right now! Oh I'm just so excited!!! I think in the future-"_

_****BANG!!**** _

Everyone in the hotel room jumped

The sound of the gunshot had been... shocking.... to say the least

 _"Bitch,"_ breathed the mystery assailant

_"You don't have a future,"_

Pegasus was now laying dead in front of the camera, blood seeping down his long, white-silver hair, and for the longest time, no one spoke

Then, slowly, another figure appeared in front of the camera, holding a gun, dressed in the iconic yellow motorcycle suit from Kill Bill, helmet and all

The figure was thin and relatively short, but had no other defining features, particularly due to being covered from head to toe in yellow

Slowly, the figure pushed the dead body out of the chair Pegasus had just been occupying, before sitting down neatly in it themself, placing both hands on the table, clasped neatly, very professional....

 _"Seto Kaiba,"_ the voice said, obviously muddled by a voice changer, clearly unrecognizable

_"Consider this my gift to you, from one anti-Purger to another, we have to keep up the good work... don't we?"_

"So you're anti-Purge but you just fucking killed someone!?" Seto shouted

 _"Relax, I'm deleting all traces of video from last night, of you.... **and** your partner, like I said, this is a gift, please, keep your company, and keep fighting the good fight, I look forward to working with you in the future,"_ the figure noted, pausing for a moment, head tilting just slightly, before speaking again

_"And I look forward to working with you again most of all, Officer Amyr,"_

After that, the video feed went dead again

No one spoke

No one moved

The room was as silent and still as death, until Atem slowly reached up and wrapped both arms around Seto's shoulders, hugging him tightly

Maybe he hadn't fixed everything....

But it seemed that someone else _had_


End file.
